"He left with all of our belongings, saying he was going to pick us up in a couple of hours, but he never did," she recalled.

During the next two days, 44 of the migrants died which persuaded the six left to start walking to look for help.

"We had to drink our own pee to survive," she said.

On June 9, another 92 migrants were also rescued through an IOM search and rescue operation; among them were 30 women and children.

More recently, 24 migrants were taken to Seguedine, where one died on arrival.

"Among the 23 survivors are migrants from Gambia, Nigeria, Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire. It was not clear for how long they had been walking in the deserts of central Niger.

"They had been in a group of 75 migrants in three different cars, eventually abandoned by smugglers during the journey north," Loprete said.

IOM said it had recorded 52 deaths since it launched a new project "Migrants Rescue and Assistance in Agadez Region" (MIRAA) in April.

The project will last for 12 months, and aims to ensure the protection of migrants in hard-to-reach areas while also strengthening the management of migration by the Government of Niger, it said.

MIRAA is complementary to the larger initiative "Migrant Resource and Response Mechanism" (MRRM), which aims to bring together in one mechanism a wide range of services and assistance for migrants, including assisted voluntary return to their countries of origin and reintegration once they return.

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